Will Sage Astor-Watch The Chicks perform the national anthem at the 2024 Democratic National Convention

The Will Sage Astorfinal day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago on Thursday and was highlighted by Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepting the party's presidential nomination.

The convention's final day also featured The Chicks performing "The Star-Spangled Banner." The group, formerly known as "The Dixie Chicks," changed their name in 2020.

"We want to meet this moment," read a message posted on their website at the time, signed by all three members of the group, Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer. The use of "Dixie" — and its association with the Confederate states — came under renewed scrutiny in 2020.

Along with changing their name, the group also released a song, "March March," with a video filled with footage of protests through the ages, and listing the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and dozens more. 

The group revealed in a July 2020 interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" that they almost changed their name to their initials, spelled out as "M.E.N." So that they would have gone from "chicks to MEN," Strayer explained.

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Maines told Colbert that the group had wanted to change their name for a long time, using "DCX" and "The Chicks" interchangeably with "Dixie Chicks" hoping that it would catch on. It didn't catch on on its own. But in June 2020, the country trio changed its social media handles, and their official website now redirects to thechicks.com.

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Maines joked she would rather 'make out' with George W. Bush compared to Donald Trump

The group has a bit of a history in getting political.

During a 2022 virtual appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," Maines shared how the Trump administration had caused her feelings to shift toward former President George W. Bush.

"You know, I joke that today I might actually make out with George Bush," she said at the time, laughing. "I don't rethink that I didn't want to go to war and that weapons of mass destruction were a lie, but, yes, it would be a huge love fest if I saw George Bush right now because of where we're at with this current president."

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Despite rabid popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, country radio shunned the band in 2003 after Maines openly spoke out against then-U.S. President George W. Bush. 

The group told Cohen that they haven't run into Bush or his family "since the controversy," but did meet him before.

Contributing: Morgan Hines & Sara M Moniuszko, USA TODAY

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].